It has been a year since Michael Myers’ Halloween rampage and Jamie’s attack on her foster mother. Now Jamie (Danielle Harris) is institutionalized and suffering visions of Michael (Don Shanks). When Michael wakes from his coma on Halloween Eve, he’s bent on killing Jamie and everyone she knows. Jamie is trying to find herself with the help of her foster sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) and her friend Tina (Wendy Kaplan). Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) realizes Michael is back and that the key to stopping him could be Jamie herself.

Directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is a direct follow-up to Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). The film battled ratings challenges (almost being Rated-X) and was the least profitable of all the Halloween franchise.

Ok…let my psychoanalyze you…while you’re holding a big knife

I have to say, Halloween 5 is kind of fun at points, but it meanders through the plot. The convenient “one year coma” of Michael, the period where he’s stalking Rachel and Tina, the party, then the scene at the house all seem very episodic and not tied together very well. It feels like it should have been about one or two parts of this plot with better development.

I also hate, hate, hate when horror movies just completely negate the previous movie. Part of the first movie that was nice was the relationship between Rachel and Jamie. Here Rachel is quickly killed unceremoniously by Michael, and it becomes about Jamie’s friendship with Tina. This isn’t as bad as Newt and the other supporting characters of Aliens begin killed at the beginning of Alien3, but it is the same frustration to loyal viewers how had any connection to the characters.

One of the best parts of the film

The secondary problem in the movie is that it sets up the next movie with a mysterious man in black, but gives no background to the character. Due to the financial low returns of Halloween 5, it took six years for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers to be released. For this movie, it just means weird random scenes of an unseen cowboy and an ending that doesn’t make much sense.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is an entertain slasher film, but like many slasher films, the movie just isn’t up to the level of the classic Halloween. I do enjoy how evil and demented Loomis seems in his torture of Jamie and there are some great moments (like car chase through the Christmas trees and the scene in the laundry chute). It is worth seeking out for fans of the series and slasher films. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers was followed up by Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers in 1995.

Follow me on Twitter @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.

One Comment on "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)"

I fail to see what you found so ‘evil’ and ‘demented’ in the conduct of Loomis. He’s endeavoring to get information from the child that could save innocent lives. He tried being gentle and grandfatherly with the kid in Halloween 4….and we saw how well THAT worked out. Who knows when she might have another of her episodes and try to bury the scissors in HIS back? At the end of the day, he still risked his life to save the kid….a kid who might, at any minute, revert to the form we saw in the final moments of Halloween 4. I found Pleasance’s performance as Loomis SUPREMELY effective in this one. My only complaint with those scenes that paired the two of them together is that, a time or two, he stood a bit too close to the kid….that lends itself to unintentional comedy, when you get right in someone’s face like that.